Software Upgrades on Phones

Some phones are upgradeable with software. You take the phone to the local company-owned store and they hook it to a programming machine, and voila, you have new features, bug fixes, etc. I.e. the Motorola V series (V60C, 120C, 270C) are on at least their third software revision. One problem is getting an upgrade to a phone that is not sold in this area. I.e., I have the 270C, and Verizon doesn't offer it in this area (it was briefly available on their web-site, but never in their local stores).